Living with a Magical Girl, but a Monster Executive

As for Cong Yu's question, Are we that close?, Yaochuan Guang confidently put her hands on her hips. "Little Lan told me all about it."

Little Lan told her? What had Lantian Zhu told her?

Cong Yu had a bad feeling about this.

But before Cong Yu had time to worry—

"Cong Yu, you're an introverted person, right? You wrap your true self beneath an indifferent shell. But deep down, you're a gentle tsundere who needs friends!"

"..." In an instant, words like "introverted," "gentle," and "tsundere," seemingly appearing from nowhere, turned into massive hammers and struck Cong Yu senseless.

Dizzy, he simply lay back down on the bed.

Cong Yu had no idea where those impressions of him had come from. But he could say with certainty that none of them suited him.

Right now, he only hoped Yaochuan Guang would leave his room soon.

But clearly, the golden idiot was not about to give up. She patted Cong Yu beneath the blanket with feeling. "Running away again—this is proof that you're a tsundere!"

What the hell even was a tsundere?!

Cong Yu could not take it anymore. He shot upright like a corpse rising from a coffin and slapped the bedboard. "So! What do you want?!"

Seeing Cong Yu's irritation, Yaochuan Guang clearly realized something and awkwardly coughed twice. "Ahem, sorry. Did you not sleep well last night?"

At her words, a formula flashed through Cong Yu's mind—

Didn't sleep well = stayed up late = went out in the middle of the night to do bad things.

"..." After a brief silence, Cong Yu instantly returned to his usual calm and answered against his conscience, "No, I slept pretty well. A full eight hours."

If he had not slept at night, what else could he have done, gone out for a stroll?

Watching the now-calm Cong Yu get ready to rise, Yaochuan Guang wondered whether he had morning grumpiness.

Come to think of it, that was kind of cute.

"I actually need your help with something."

As Yaochuan Guang said that and prepared to leave his room, Cong Yu gave her an unmistakably disgusted look.

"It's not anything troublesome. It has to do with that Ant Monster from before. I'll explain later..."

As she spoke, Yaochuan Guang took a few quick steps back into the living room, then poked her head back in. "Oh, right! I made breakfast, and there's a portion for you too, Cong Yu-chan!"

"..." Breakfast? Yaochuan Guang had made breakfast?

Cong Yu hesitantly got dressed, doubting the girl's cooking skills... This was not going to be dark cuisine, was it?

Though he felt a little bad about it, Cong Yu had already decided that this girl's character archetype was "hot-blooded idiot."

Could food made by someone like that really be edible?

With that question in mind, Cong Yu walked out of his room and immediately saw Lantian Zhu sitting on the sofa watching TV.

Seeing Cong Yu come out, Lantian Zhu silently ate the seaweed rice ball in her hand, pointed at the two rice balls on the coffee table, then pushed them toward Cong Yu.

Her body language clearly said, "These are for you."

"My portion?"

Lantian Zhu: Nod nod.

"Yaochuan Guang made them?"

Lantian Zhu: Nod nod.

"Did eating them cause any obvious clinical symptoms?"

Facing Cong Yu, who looked worried for his life as he asked that, Lantian Zhu calmly retorted, "There wouldn't be anything like that... probably."

Yaochuan Guang, busy in the kitchen, clearly could not stand the two of them anymore and poked her head out. "There won't be! And Little Lan, you didn't need to add 'probably'! They're just rice balls, it's hard to make them taste bad!"

"..."

"Mm-hmm..."

After making a doubtful sound like an MC villager, Cong Yu cautiously took a bite of the rice ball in his hand... At least it looked pretty good.

"Nom... chew chew chew."

Cong Yu chewed the rice ball. The taste was unexpectedly good... He could clearly taste fish, probably bonito.

The rice was salted just right as well.

"Yaochuan Guang can actually cook..."

His surprise was obvious in his voice. Then he reconsidered. "Though I guess that makes sense. Even an idiot does not necessarily cook badly."

Lantian Zhu nodded in agreement.

"Hmph hmph, good that you know..."

Yaochuan Guang looked proud, hands on her hips. "Apologize to the stereotype that 'idiots can't cook'! Apologize, apologize!"

Lantian Zhu: "Sorry."

Cong Yu: "..."

She was not even going to deny being an idiot?

Chapter 13: What? Same School?!

"So, do you still remember yesterday's Ant Monster, Cong Yu?"

As Yaochuan Guang spoke, she changed into her shoes. Seeing Cong Yu also putting on his shoes with a sigh, she pressed, "Do you? Do you?"

Cong Yu could barely be bothered to answer such a question. He tapped his foot in exasperation. "What else? It happened just yesterday."

So where was Yaochuan Guang taking him?

If Cong Yu had to guess, probably that ramen shop.

Since she thought the ramen was delicious, she wanted Cong Yu to go eat there with her again... so she had brought up the Ant Monster.

That made sense...

"Actually, when I attacked that Ant Monster, I deliberately left some magic power inside it. I decided to trace the remnants of that magic power."

Yaochuan Guang proudly put her hands on her hips, looking very pleased with herself. "Because of me, that Monster knows your name, Cong Yu-chan. I want to make up for that."

"..." Cong Yu had the urge to cover his face. He opened his mouth, but could not organize his words... Though this was a technique some magical girls had mastered.

But since you could do that! You should have said so earlier!

Then there would have been no need for me to sneak over last night. I could have just come with you today and pretended to be a victim asking about the bank's situation!

No, wait! I already was a victim, and last night's rampage after so long had gotten me absolutely nothing!

With that thought, Cong Yu gritted his teeth and nodded, reluctantly responding to Yaochuan Guang walking ahead of him, "Really, thanks."

"No need to thank me! I'm only trying to make up for what I did before..." Yaochuan Guang replied, then turned back apologetically. "With you directing things, Cong Yu-chan, the victory came too easily. So I got a little carried away. I didn't expect the enemy to escape, and I ended up causing you trouble."

"..." Looking at Yaochuan Guang's sincere apology, Cong Yu felt some of his resentment gradually dissipate.

She was an idiot, but idiots had their own kind of charm.

Even so, Cong Yu still did not quite understand.

"Why ask me? As an ordinary civilian, wouldn't it be bad if I ran into a Monster?"

At Cong Yu's question, Yaochuan Guang blinked in confusion. "Huh? I heard that manga artists are all interested in seeing magical girls fight up close, for research and stuff?"

As she spoke, Yaochuan Guang recalled her earlier conversation with Lantian Zhu. "Little Lan said the Monster information you recorded looked like it had been gathered from very close up. She told me to do my best to stop you from doing anything too dangerous in the future."

"Isn't that right?"

"..." Isn't that right? Right? Is it?

That sentence struck Cong Yu's thoughts like a heavy blow. Even his neck stiffened as he forced out an awkward smile. "Haha... you found out, huh."

One lie needs more lies to cover it up.

Cong Yu had clearly fallen into that difficult Calamity cycle. But even so, he needed to maintain his persona.

Even if he did not want anything to do with the supernatural world for the time being.

"I still want to gather material up close. With you around, my safety should probably be guaranteed too."

Cong Yu said this while concealing his nearly dead eyes. "So please take care of me from now on, Yaochuan Guang."

Hearing Cong Yu's words, Yaochuan Guang visibly brightened. As she spun around, her golden hair traced a dazzling, beautiful arc through the air.

"Please take care of me too, Cong Yu-chan!"

"We're almost there. Be careful, Cong Yu!"

As Yaochuan Guang said that, she had already transformed into Magical Girl Shining☆chan. Standing outside an abandoned factory building, her expression was grave.

Cong Yu knew there would not be any Monsters inside the factory. After last night's chaos, there probably was not even a rat left.

Snakes ate rats. Once the aura of a snake spread through an area, whether rats or even weaker creatures, they would all flee in panic.

But Cong Yu had no choice but to pretend he knew nothing.

And when it came to acting, he was confident.

"Yeah, I'll stay behind you the whole time... This place looks like it has been abandoned for a while. It may have become a Monster base."

Cong Yu said something whose truth even he did not know. Then, as he turned toward Yaochuan Guang, he said, "Let's first come up with a plan—"

Then Cong Yu saw the empty corner on the other side of the wall.

Looking closer, Yaochuan Guang seemed to have already charged straight into the abandoned factory while he was speaking.

"I am Magical Girl Shining☆chan! Monsters! No matter what scheme you have... Hm, it seems there aren't any Monsters."

With her wand in hand, Yaochuan Guang cautiously observed the ruins of metal and stone slabs. Golden magic power extended from the wand, forming a beautiful blade of light.

It was like holding a lightsaber with a long handle.

"Even if there were Monsters, you probably scared them off."

Cong Yu teased as he walked in from outside the factory, sighing. "Yaochuan Guang... your fighting habits are terrible."

Though he knew there was no need to say it, watching Yaochuan Guang fight like this made him unable to hold back.

"You like shouting out attack names, and you like talking during battles. Neither of those is really a problem... A lot of magical girls like doing that."

Cong Yu could not help sighing as he recalled what she had done before. "But before launching a surprise attack, don't rush in without saying a word and without informing your companions... And shouting out loud only alerts the enemy."

"..."

"Oh, is that so? I've never fought together with anyone else."

Yaochuan Guang responded obediently, like an elementary school student being scolded by her teacher. Pouting, she defended herself, "But I wanted to rush ahead and protect you."

Well, thanks so much for your protection.

"Mm-hm, my magic power."

Yaochuan Guang carefully sensed her own magic power, searching the factory for places where the enemy might be hiding.

"The last place that Monster appeared..."

As she said that, Yaochuan Guang came to a place very familiar to Cong Yu. "This is definitely it, but the feeling of the magic power is gone."

It had to be said, Yaochuan Guang's senses were accurate. The place where she stood now was exactly where Cong Yu had stood yesterday.

It was also where the Ant Monster had been swallowed whole by the Giant Serpent.

So it was only natural that the sensation of magic power had vanished into thin air.

"Hm? It vanished? What does that mean?"

Cong Yu asked with an innocent expression, as if he truly knew nothing at all, perfectly stirring up Yaochuan Guang's desire to show off.

"Haha, it means the other side was teleported away. I've encountered Monsters with similar powers before. Or they might have died on the spot. There are lots of possibilities."

As she spoke, Yaochuan Guang paced around before ultimately giving up on finding any useful clues. "I have a lot of confidence in the range of my senses. Anyway, the other side has left Wind City."

Yeah, it had left Wind City.

Cong Yu thought that, then added inwardly—more precisely, it had already left this world.